


Wingless

by Wordpainter15



Series: Star-Crossed AU [5]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emperor!Emira, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, Outlaw! Viney, Star-Crossed!Au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26962306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordpainter15/pseuds/Wordpainter15
Summary: "Once upon a time- a time that seems so long ago, Emmy met a girl who belonged to the sky. And Emira fell. Fell into her arms as she was properly introduced into the sky atop griffinback and showed that there is no need to fear falling when one has wings. Fell into the depths of sightless eyes and got lost in the stars that made a home on her cheeks as freckles. Fell in love. Then she joined the Emperor's coven and watched her sky girl fly away and leave her wingless on the ground."Or:It's no fairy tale. Fairy tales don't make the knight watch as her princess gasps for air in front of her.
Relationships: Emira Blight/Viney
Series: Star-Crossed AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954648
Comments: 54
Kudos: 145





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, this one doesn't end in total angst. I promise
> 
> Semi-requested by LumiteeBPD on Jailbird who commented:  
> "CONCEPT: next time they meet, Viney gets badly injured at the hands of the Emperor’s Coven, and Em panics (parallels how Lilith realizes the truth abt Emperor’s Coven when they nearly petrified Eda). Nothing like good ol near-death angst to really break some hearts"
> 
> I was going to do this anyway, but I'm doing it quickly because of this. Chapter 2 involves the whole: Viney gets hurts part, but I thought this part seemed like a pretty good prologue of sorts. It has like, no dialogue so for people who only read dialogue (don't feel called out, I do it a lot too), sorry

Emira Blight has always feared heights, for she has always feared falling. Falling out of the top bunk she used to sleep in as a child where the ground seemed like a dark void in her shared bedroom. Falling down the stairs after Edric slipped on his own prank banana peel and busted his head open once he finally stopped rolling. She feared splatting on the ground when she almost fell off the magic broom she stole from her father when she was twelve; she remembers the panic choking the air in her throat as she clung to its handle. Even now, she rides her palisman low to the ground where the fall is soft or the toes of her boots drag in the dirt. Emira Blight keeps her feet on the ground because she hates falling. She fears it.

Once upon a time- a time that seems so long ago, Emmy met a girl who belonged to the sky. And Emira fell. Fell into her arms as she was properly introduced into the sky atop griffinback and showed that there is no need to fear falling when one has wings. Fell into the depths of sightless eyes and got lost in the stars that made a home on her cheeks as freckles. Fell in love. Then she joined the Emperor's coven and watched her sky girl fly away and leave her wingless on the ground.

Emira is still falling. Every time she catches sight of Viney on Puddles. Every time her spells clash with hers. Every time without fail Emira Blight falls a little more in love. And she fears falling because every time Viney flies away she takes a piece of Emmy with her. There’s little left to take, but each piece of love she gains is paid for with a piece of her soul. Emira doesn’t even care. She’ll give everything to Viney, down to the air in her lungs because she is realizing that she has a fear bigger than loving Viney so much that she can’t breathe.

Emira Blight fears falling out of love- fears that one day she and Viney will clash and actually aim for throats and for hearts. That she would steal back the pieces she gave to Viney with cruel fingers, and Em would have all her pieces but no idea how to put them back together. Viney is her healer, the one she gave all the secret parts of her to because Viney would keep them safe even as they bruised each other’s bodies. Only Viney knows how those pieces fit together- Emira could never do it right. Emira Blight would rather give Viney the air in her lungs than fall out of love with her sky girl. Would rather Viney’s love turn to hate than have Viney fall out of love and just not _care_ about Emmy. If one day she points Justice at Viney and wants her spell to hit its target… the girl doesn’t want to think about it. She can’t betray her sky girl like that.

The idea haunts her nightmares. Lurks in the shadows of her mind when her bones are weary and her skin bruised with only potions to ebb the pain because Viney is the only healer she wants touching her. It whispers what-ifs in her ears when her supervisors criticize her low quotas and send her out to hunt down more wayward souls. Emira has to keep her numbers high to be allowed to chase after Viney because only the ruthless hunting dogs are allowed after wild witches. A piece of her cracks with each creature she locks behind bars and she wonders how bad it is that she’d imprison all these creatures just so that she could ensure Viney another month, another week, another day… She soothes Amity by saying that at least they do it smoothly. No mocking, no brutality. Just cuffs then jail cell. She tells Amity this and she tells herself this until she believes it’s true (she never believes it though).

Her doubt still whispers in her ears like a demon on her shoulder. Gets louder as days turn to weeks and Emira hasn’t caught more than a glimpse of the Owl House’s outlaws. It asks her if it’s worth it. Why is she wasting time protecting this group who refuses to listen? Why does she owe this to Viney? That it was a schoolgirl love. The kind that is destined by the stars to break because people make choices and grow up. How many marry their high school sweetheart? Does she even remember what their love was like? Remember Viney in a way that isn’t constant weariness and yelling? She’s never thanked, the voice tells her. Viney always flies off and leaves her Emmy on the ground surrounded by the unconscious bodies of her peers. Is it worth it? Does Emira even really love her anymore?

And then Viney is there like the stars had whispered in the blind witch’s ears. Bursting through her forces like a hot knife through butter in that dumb mask and riding a rapidly growing Puddles. Em’s forces will soon be nothing but sleeping bodies on the ground and Viney will push up the mask like she knows Emira needs to see her face. Em drinks in the sight of it because Viney never comes closer unless Emira is bleeding or holding a limb protectively to her body (and for the life of her Emira can not figure out how Viney can tell when she’s hurt). Viney lets Emira stare. Shakes her head because Emmy will always say some dumb pick-up line like they’re flirting in the lunchroom and then the pleading begins. Viney asks her to come back with her. Emira says it’s just another reason for the coven to increase the numbers hunting them and tells Viney the safest choice is to come with Emmy and join a coven. Viney gets mad, Emira gets frustrated, and they scream in each other’s faces until Emira can’t take it anymore and kisses her because she’s Titan damned beautiful and wild and Emira would marry her if she could. 

Emira wipes the tears from Viney’s cheeks and her sky girl returns the favor. Emmy whispers an “I love you” and Viney just nods and kisses her lips before her morals take over and steels Viney’s resolve. The wild witch gets on her griffin and flies away and Emira is left with Justice’s judgemental silence as she gets on her staff to go find muscle to gather up her knocked out witches.

It’s not a happy love story but Emira refuses to end it.

It’s another tired morning that was preceded by a sleepless night because her dreams were full of Viney. Not in a good way- there were no tearful reunions or blissful moments. Fire and brimstone, smoke and invisible forces that kept Viney always out of reach and crying, crying, crying...  Emira lets a yawn billow out as she swirls the contents of her mug around in circles. Her messy hair flows loosely down her back and is a tangled bird’s nest. The week’s been nothing but nightmares like the stars themselves are mad at her. Maybe they are.

The Blight is chewing through a piece of toast with her notes on her assignments and Viney’s last sightings. Her teammates find her dedication bordering obsessive. Others joke it must be a family thing because Amity is the same. Em doesn’t really care what they think as long as they back off her leads because they respect that it’s Emira’s hunt. When they don’t, Emira and Amity make sure they do. No one’s walked away from a Blight witches’ duel unscathed since the two sisters joined the Emperor’s ranks.  Emira wipes the crumbs from her face as the door to the apartment slams open loudly. The green-haired witch flinches before she rolls her eyes because Amity just earned the two of them another noise complaint. She raises brows to her hairline as her baby sister rams into the room like her pants are on fire. Em checks just to make sure the girl isn’t actually on fire before she glances at Amity’s face.

“Have you slept at all in the past forty-eight hours?” Emira jests at the girl’s wild hair and bagging eyes. The witch sits up straighter when Amity doesn’t bark back a response. “What?”

“Someone got Viney,” Amity tells her with her hand clutching the spot the cowl splits under her chin. “We got to go to the palace.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you soon, my wrist is killing me and it took me like 3 hrs to write this because of this stupid brace -_-  
> Hopefully, I can finish this tomorrow, but if not it might be a few days.


	2. Wingless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh it's like, 1 am and this is probably terribly placed but 1 am brain thinks it's okay

The throne room is suffocating. Between the humid heat of hissing steam and underlying tang of metal that always settled disturbingly on the tongue no matter how much Emira swallowed, the witch couldn’t take a steady breath while standing in it. Sweat beads dotted her face under the beaked mask and she grips her staff to keep from flinging the cursed object off her face just to relieve the heat. Amity isn’t doing much better. She’s fidgeting. Twitching fingers and flickering eyes as they wait and wait and _ wait _ . The thudding of the heart beats a drum in their ears and both sisters feel their stomachs coil in time. Emira purses her lips, swallows saliva to try and rid of the vile taste in her mouth.

Emira and Amity face each other on opposing sides of the room. Partway up from the door, not the low grunts at the bottom nor the top dogs at the top near the throne. They stare straight forward at one another and do not stray their stare. Even when the doors creak open with an ominous bark of their hinges and the obvious sound of hissing starts to echo down the room. A body is being dragged. The harsh panting of the witches pulling it and the scuffle of clothes rasping against the metal floor are proof. Emira doesn’t turn her head- it’d be a sign of lacking discipline or an indicator that the coven has yet to possess and kill her heart. Emira’s heart will never be theirs though. She no longer has it- it had been surgically removed by a blind witch with gentle hands years ago. Even as they drag said blind witch to the Emperor’s throne, Emmy’s heart is safe. Viney is smart enough to have hid the bleeding organ away amongst soft down where it’d be safe from the endless fighting. Em wishes she can say that she took care of Viney’s just as well.

The Beast Healer, that’s one of her names. It’s the one they have printed on the posters that hang on poles and bulletin boards. And Emira finds it strange how the words can be said. A monster, but a nurse? Even her title, the one forced upon her by these Emperor witches, can not disregard Viney’s innate will to _ heal _ . They just declare her a monster for it. Or perhaps it's that she’s the one to heal the monsters… Justice has told her the name needs working on. Too contradictory.

Emira doesn’t think that the poster captures Viney’s likeness at all. The spikes of her hairband are too red, the points too jagged and looking like blood-stained teeth instead of blunt decoration it is. Not a single freckle dots the paper. What a disservice they did to her sky girl, forgetting to put her stars on her cheeks (Emira supposes only a few have gotten close enough to see the freckles, but it’s still a sin to exclude them). Freckles wouldn’t even matter because they paint her with the mask on and that’s the worst part! They don’t show her wild sky girl at all! Not her eyes or her face or even her atop her griffin, just a masked figure facing the judging world (and it’s wrong, wrong, wrong!) If they go to the effort to make wanted posters, at least make Viney  _ Viney _ and not this faceless outlaw.

Emira can see Viney’s face now- at least she can see her profile. The soft curve of her cheek. A quick upturn of her button nose. Fire in her eyes that can burn brightly because she doesn’t need them to see. The mask lay cracked and broken, hung together only by the string connecting it around Viney’s neck. It sways with each heavy jerk her captors give as they drag her forward. Emira makes herself watch, even when Amity bows her head because this is her punishment for not getting to Viney first. Amity looks away because this is her warning and she can’t bear the thought.

“Wild witch,” the emperor drawls out and his voice never fails to send a chill chasing down Emira’s spine and freezing the lungs in her chest.

Viney doesn’t answer even when her bounded hands are pulled roughly and she’s almost forced onto her knees. The brunette doesn’t kneel. Only snarls through her bared fangs when someone tries to force her. Emperor Belos waves the scared underling off. 

“Look at me, won’t you?” the emperor asks as he stands from his throne.

Viney doesn’t, her sightless gaze staring at the ground on an angle. It’s an act of defiance. Emira knows this. If Viney wanted to let someone see her eyes, she would just follow their voice. 

Belos’ metallic staff taps against Viney’s chin, lifting the contorted face in his direction. Viney’s lip are pulled back in a snarl that only deepens as her neck is forced back. Emira feels her own fangs grind against her lip as the emperor examines the wild witch with the interest one looks at a caged bird.

“Ah, I see,” Emperor Belos hums out and lets Viney’s face drop. “Blind are you? So tell me, it is your disability that makes you resistant? Are you angry, wild witch?” The emperor tilts his head at the silence that stands between them, glowing eyes flaring a little brighter. “Are you deaf as well? Or perhaps mute?”

“I can speak fine,” Viney hisses out and her mouth twitches into a small smirk. “I just don’t let you control me.”

“He is your emperor!” Kikimora exclaims from where she stands at the foot of the throne. “The bringer of light and you refuse to bow, you savage fool!”

“He’s not my emperor and I don’t kneel to dictators, much less false prophets as unnatural as- ack,” Viney sucks in air as a magic circle encloses her throat.

Emira straightens as her sky girl gags on the magic noose. Viney’s shoulders jump as her shoulders hunch over as she gasps for air. The girl still doesn’t bow- her buckled knees catch her weight and her bound hands struggle to create a magic circle. The one Viney manages is weak and fizzles out before it has a chance to act. 

The Blight girl watches, and Justice’s wooden figure judges with each clattering breath that overcomes the steam hissing through pipes. Viney’s voice wheezes, a choked wind that sounds too much like a dying breath. Emira’s hand tightens around her staff and the gasping echoes and echoes and echoes. Picks up in time with the increased racing of the heart behind Belos’ throne before it starts to stutter off. A quiet whine escapes Emira’s clenched jaw.

Emmy’s sky girl falls to the ground, bound hands reaching for her choking throat.

Amity and her grip Viney’s arms and pull her up the moment Belos waves at them, the tyrant looking rather bored. Emira’s gentle grip comes around to grab the tail of the rope as the emperor creates a small circle with his staff. Viney’s noose loosens slightly, still tight around her neck but enough air can sip past to her lungs. Emira rubs the reddening skin gently, she weaves small magic circles into the mass of brown hair at the nape of Viney’s neck as she tries to ease the pain (Emmy is not the healer- she doubts it helps at all). 

“You should take her tongue,” Kikimora breathes out as her emperor climbs the step to the throne; the heart beats a frantic rhythm behind her. 

“So barbaric,” Belos states dryly as he sits back down. “We aren’t the savages here. She may keep her tongue, but this is a warning, wild one. I have taken that voice of yours, mull over your decisions while your throat heals. I am being as merciful as I can,” the emperor tells Viney with a gentle, nonchalant wave of his hands. “But there are rules, wild one. If you refuse a coven come the time when your throat has healed, you will meet your fate. Take her to the Conformitorium,” Belos commands, and Amity makes a show of pushing Viney around to the door.

“Are you okay?” Amity asks quietly as they enter the empty hallway.

“Sky girl, what were you thinking?” Emira hastily adds as she continues to pulse her weak healing magic into the bruised skin. “You could’ve gotten killed.”

“Your emperor does not scare me,” Viney croaks out and gags on her own voice as it barrels through ruined muscles. 

“Shh,” Emira mutters and throws that damned hood off her head as the three of them make their way to one of the carriages. “Don’t make it worse, dove.”  Emmy curls her arms under her sky girl’s body, one under her legs and the other wraps around her back. Freckled cheeks dust pink like the sky at dusk and Emira snickers despite Amity’s eye roll.  “I always said I’d sweep you off your feet, darling girl,” Emmy jokes as she lifts Viney over the carriage’s side and into the seat.

“Amity’s the muscle,” Viney hoarsely replies and coughs at the pain that flares up. “Illusionists are weaklings.”

“You are in no condition to be making such threats.”

“She could still beat your weak illusionist butt,” Amity answers and pushes said weak illusionist out of the way. The younger Blight dodges the arms trying to wrap around her and places her palms on the carriage's front. Glowing circles form under her hands as the carriage demon answers her spell and lifts off the ground. “I got it started for you. I’ve… got to go.”

Got to go look for Luz. Emira nods and gives a small wave as Amity glances at Viney with heavy eyes. The younger Blight blinks and boards her magic staff, fleeing the palace at her top speed.

“Hey, look,” Emira starts as the carriage rises to meet the clouds. “Back where you belong, sky girl.”

Viney doesn’t answer, and a part of her is disappointed even though Em knows that Viney shouldn’t be using her crushed windpipe. The wild witch only shakes her bound hands between them in response. Guilt gnaws at Emira's inside.  The ride is quiet and Emira wishes she had more to say in this small moment of stillness. In this moment where her sky girl is back in the clouds and Emira is with her, not bound to the ground without Viney’s wings. Em pushes her hair out of her face, looking at Viney from the side of her eye. That spell is still locked around her neck like a lethal collar, squeezing the skin around it in its grip. Emira wants to reach out, to break it off. She can’t… They’d know.

Emira Blight thought that her reintroduction to the sky would be on different wings…

Viney takes measured breaths through the flight, sipping oxygen past the ring around her throat. The beast healer wonders how long it will last- what the emperor’s magic range is. He’s a cocky bastard though. She won’t suffocate, not by this dumb thing. His grand light will turn her to stone by the Titan’s  _ will  _ or make it a tragic display of her own hubris. She can feel the cold breeze of the sky on her skin and it cools the anger burning in her chest with each small breath. Viney’s lips curl back as she hisses out the anger heating her breath. Her jumping jugular is pinched by the circle ensnaring it. 

“Can’t you… Get this off me?”

“Sorry, sky girl,” Emira apologizes with a shake of her head that Viney can not see. “They’d know. I... It’d be a bad idea.”

“I… never thought you’d be such a coward, Emira,” Viney spits out around her bruised voice. “Such bravado.”

“Come on, Viney. That’s not fair-”

“I’m not the one who…” Viney gasps new air into her lungs as her voice sputters out. “Who abandoned her brother and-”

“I never abandoned Edric!” Emira hisses out and curls her fingers into her hair. “He chose his path.”

“And you choose yours. I remember… remember thinking you used to love me.”

“I do,” Emira breathes out and grabs the fabric of Viney’s shirt in a desperate grip. “I do this for you! Don’t you get it! It’s always been for you!” Em’s fangs smash down on themselves with a harsh clash. “It was the coven, or them hunting you down while you were trapped in Hexside. The coven or you getting turned to stone. I don’t get to leave because they’ll figure out I was protecting you!  _ You’re _ the reason I’m in this coven.”

The words hang in the air. A confession? An accusation? Emria recoils because she’s not sure and her trembling fingers grab each other. She watches them shake and pretends the shivers are from the cold. When she dares to look up, Viney is glaring at her and her sightless gaze pierces through her chest. Emira can’t breath, Viney’s stolen the air from her lungs.

“You’re in the coven… because you’re a  _ coward. _ ” Viney’s lip pulls back to show her fangs. “Don’t blame me, Emira Blight. We would’ve had to run… regardless. I didn’t,” Viney pulls in a breath. “I didn’t ask you to play the martyr. You abandoned me… not the other way around.”

It’s all Viney’s injured throat can take. The wild witch goes mum except for her heavy, steady breathing. 

“You know,” Viney says as she’s getting pulled out of the carriage by some Conformitorium guard. “Once upon a time… I thought you loved me more than you feared them…”

Emira doesn’t respond and watches them drag the sky girl into the cage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to brokenpshco for the idea commented on Homing Pigeon:  
> "Idk why but I'm just seeing viney saying "remember when you loved me more than you feared the emperor"? "
> 
> I'm used this because it punched me in the gut- hope you don't mind.
> 
> Also, Viney prob seems a little bitchy but the person who is supposed to love her lit just watched her almost suffocate so... I'd be mad too


	3. Fly Away With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from the song of the same name by FatRat which is the inspiration for this ending and the whole flying motif of this story

By the cruel hands of fate, Emira gets assigned guard duty. It’s meant to be a reward- a boring assignment, but an easy one. Paid to do nothing but walk up and down cell blocks all day because those who enter the Conformatorium usually resign to their fate and just sit pitifully in their cages.

Not Viney.

The blind witch does not take confinement well… Her antics are a relief from the boredom, at the least. But Em would rather be bored than casting restraint spells at her… lover? Are they lovers any more? Emira’s not sure because the heart she gave to Viney feels like it's bleeding out. Her thoughts are getting muddled and the floating feeling has been replaced. She can’t tell if the constant ache she’s feeling is her heart being forced back into her chest or if the spot Viney hid it in has been uncovered and trampled. Her chest constricts as she tightens the restraint spell, binding Viney’s arms to her body as the unconscious guard is dragged out of the cell by the others.

The wild witch snarls at her and that cursed circle is still ensnaring her neck, a ticking timer. The brunette flops against her binds, but Viney is tired of fighting. Her anger burns lowly in her gut, providing the steam she needs to keep going, but the long hours are cooling it off and it’s nothing but dying embers now. Viney feels the restraint fall away with the disappearance of the thudding footsteps.

“You’re making us look bad,” Em chides jokingly as Viney curls up in the corner of her cell and the blind witch rubs at her sore throat. 

“Not my fault Emperor witches are weak,” the wild witch croaks out and coughs to ease her soreness.

“Does it still hurt?” Emira asks with a worried furrow of her brow as she crouches down to lift Viney’s chin to look at the red line staining Viney’s throat.

“Doesn’t matter if you won’t do anything about it,” Viney hisses as she pulls her chin away. 

“That doesn’t mean I don’t _care_ , Viney! I- I don’t want this,” Emira insists and her voice cracks around her words. The Emperor witch clutches her wild girl around the shoulders. “I’d give anything to fly with you again.”

“Then fly away with me, Emmy…” Viney whimpers and she indulges. The brunette clutches to Emira’s clothes and pulls her closer, buries her face into the soft hair and smooth skin. Lets the burning anger ebb for a moment and lets her Emmy's warmth replace it. “I’m tired of the fighting. Let’s go flying. I even promise not to do the loops.”

A broken chuckle erupts from Em’s mouth. A calm flight with Viney? Never in a lifetime, not her wild witch. Emira clutches tighter and cherishes the windburned lips that brush against her neck. The Blight presses a kiss of her own against knotted hair. Em's nose traces the curve pf Viney's cheek.

“You’re not playing fair, sky girl.”

“Said the trickster…” Viney breathes melodically into the illusionist's ear around her restrained jugular. Her warm breath fans across Emria’s neck. “Please, Emmy?”

“Everyone’s safer where they are,” Emira denies and pries Viney’s grip from her shirt. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

“I’m already hurt!” Viney counters with a defiant tilt of her head that shows off the angry red line circling her throat. “If you wanted me safe, _actually_ safe, you’d come with me.” The brunette chuckles humorlessly as she runs a hand through her tangled bangs, slumping against the wall. “You used to say you’d be my knight… heh, now you’re my executioner.”

Emira stiffens at the accusation, “I’d never-”

“ _What?_ Hurt me?” Viney exclaims as she pushes her body up with her palms, green eyes burning. “The first autumn, your team made me break my wrist! The second winter, I twisted my ankle because I got flung off Puddles. Last month I had to reset my nose because _your_ plant spell hit me square in the face! You won’t get this thing off my throat! I got _caught_ ,” Viney hisses, “because they drew me in with an illusion of you! Puddles was left tangled up on the ground with a twisted wing while I was dragged away because-”

“How?”

“They got the voice eerily right,” the witch mumbles to herself with an embarrassed duck of her head. “It’s my own damn fault. Should’ve known the minute it didn’t try to flirt that it was a trick…”

“Wait, they caught you using-”

“Blight? You still alive in there?” a voice calls out down the mostly barren hallway.

The foreign sound cuts through the haze in the blind girl's eyes. Viney blinks and shoves Emira away from her. The Emperor witch stumbles and flops outside of Viney’s cell. Gold eyes watch as the brunette takes as deep a breath as her collar allowed her.

“If you aren’t actually going to help, _Emira_ ,” Viney spits out the words as Em watches the door slide into place. “Then just leave me alone.”

Emira flinches as the lock clicks into place.

Justice is being finicky. Has been since Viney’s imprisonment three days ago. Disobedient to orders and cawing at his master every chance he gets. The normally quiet and obedient palisman is at its wits end. 

Emira is at hers too.

The green-haired witch opens the door to the empty staff lounge and motions the grumpy palisman inside. Golden eyes glare at the wooden creature as it stiffly soars past her and bumps into the coat rack. When Justice caws angrily at her for not warning him, she huffs and slams the door shut.

The wooden griffin waits. Waits for his master’s energy to ebb before he spreads his wings and clasps the doorknob in his claws. The force of the opening door sends his weight careening to the side before he straightens and exits the staff's lounge room. Justice hovers for a moment as he gathers his bearings. His magic is weak, especially without his master there to channel it, but he manages. Other palisman have magical vision- their eyes glow with their magic and they trace magical essence that way. Justice is blind.

Justice is blind, but he has strong instincts and excellent ears. He picks up the wild witch’s essence, deciphers the melodic tune it creates, and follows it. He has a wrong to right. The palisman is not deterred by irrelevant things such as political alignment. The wild witch does not deserve her cage, and his master is being an idiot.

The wild one is in a hallway all by herself. Isolated to the point even the sounds of the other prisoners do not reach through the walls. Justice slips through the open window on the door. He wonders what she looks like as he flies his way to the heavy breathing. He thinks her unhealthy, her breathing still struggling after having days to heal. That worries his. The wild one is not a bad thing and no good thing should suffer unnecessarily.

Viney’s ears twitch at the flapping sound and she tilts toward the noise of scrapping talons on stone. A warbled coo echoes in the witch’s ears.

“And who might you be?” Viney asks as the noise comes closer. Her open palm is met by smooth wood and a buzzing warmth thrums against her skin. “A palisman?”

Justice warbles under her hand.

“Sorry, bud,” Viney apologizes and scratches a finger under the palisman’s chin. “I can’t cast an all-speak spell like this.”

The small palisman cooed more insistently and Viney feels a tail wrap around her wrist as the magic creature turns. Is… is this palisman a griffin? The wild witch chuckles at the thought- what a weird choice. Her hand jerks when the creature forcibly shoves its face into her fingers.

“I’ll poke you in the… eye…” Viney trails off and presses back against the insistent wood. “You- you don’t have eyes?” Viney is quiet for a moment before she groans and throws her head back. The palisman clambers onto her chest and nudges at her hand to resume the petting. “That dummy- You’re Emmy’s I'm guessing. Ahh, she’s such a _sap_ , by the Titan!” Viney scratches the palisman’s neck. “Guess we’re in the same boat then, huh little guy… I’ll let you in on a little story as long as you don’t tell Emmy, ‘kay bud?”

Justice cooes his agreement and settles deeper on Viney’s chest, pressing into the witch’s hand that still rubbed up and down his back.

“We used to date- years ago before she made you. Ah, you probably already know that,” Viney states with an awkward laugh. “I was head over heels for that girl, but you know. Coven witches and wild ones don’t really see eye to eye.”

Justice doesn’t see what seeing eye to eye has to do with anything. The wild one is blind.

“First time I took her flying on my griffin, she screamed in my ear so much that it didn’t stop ringing for an entire day. Told her that I’m already blind, she can’t take my hearing too. Hope you don’t gotta deal with that," Viney adds in with a bitter smile. "I think she had fun once she stopped screeching. I couldn’t breathe the entire time, mind you, but it was still fun. I told her I’d rather have wings than eyes and she said I was crazy for wanting to be in the sky all the time.” Viney snickers at the memory and on the last wisps of breath in her lungs she breathes, “I still love the stubborn brat… but I’m not sticking around. Not much of a wild witch if I’m stuck behind bars and my friends will be here soon.”

As if fate heard her words, a boom echoed through the stone walls.

“Think that’s for me?” Viney asks jokingly as she gets to her feet and places the wooden griffin on the ground. “Try not to scuff me up too much, ‘kay little buddy? I still can’t breathe right with this thing around my neck.”

“Viney! Viney,” Luz’s voice echoes into the hall. “If that guard lied to me, I’ll stab him with an ice spell! ¡ _Lo juro_!”

“Luz? Over here, Luz!”

The human skids to a stop before the lever that opens Viney’s cell and pulls it down. It squeaks in protest but yields as the door slides open.

“ _¡Vamonos mi amiga!_ Before those dunderheads cause us any more trouble,” Luz says as she grabs Viney’s hand and pulls her out of the cell. “Try to stay close- this place is a maze, even with eyes. Luckily, I have a map!”

“We had a map of this place?” Viney asks as she matches Luz’s running gait.

“We do now.”

That sounded… ominous. Viney slams against the wall as Luz pulls them flush to the stone. “Did you threaten someone with an ice spell again?”

“Fire, actually. Now is not the time to discuss the morals of threatening to burn people!” Luz exclaims because she remembers they’re in the middle of enemy territory. “Come on.”

“I’m not letting you get away again!” the warden of the prison, Wrath, yells as he rams his way into the room. Emira behind him, eyes flickering anxiously between the Emperor witch and the outlaws before them.

“Not this guy again…” Luz mumbles and digs into her pockets for more glyphs. “You get out of here, Viney. I’ll meet you- the others are holding the gate for us.”

“I won’t let you get away-”

“ _Cállate_ , por favor,” Luz whines. “I’ve broken into this place twice before. _Twice_!” The human holds up two fingers to emphasize. “I can do it again. Now eat my glyphs!” A boom sounds as a fire spell explodes at the warden’s feet. “Viney, there’s a set of stairs down the hall on the left. Just keep going down and start yelling. Barcus’ll hear you.”

Viney nods and takes off around the sounds of exploding fire and splintering ice. The warden yells at Emira to chase after her and the witch pauses for a moment before turning to give chase. The Blight gives Justice an odd look as he leads a pace before her.

If Emira didn’t know Viney, she would’ve thought that Viney didn’t know that she was being followed. The wild witch is careful to stay out of sight of the Emperor witches running around, but doesn't seem to notice the one right behind her. However, Viney is the most observant girl Em knows. Justice isn’t being stealthy either- the palisman bursts forward and brushes against Viney’s back every few minutes. 

“You really made your palisman blind?” Viney asks as her feet meet the final floor.

“Well, I was missing someone,” Em answers. “And I gave him wings in return. Who needs eyes when you can fly, aye sky girl?”

“What are you doing, Emira?” Viney asks. Her voice is heavy with her exhaustion and she tiredly turns so that her face is facing Em over her shoulder. “If we’re going to fight, let’s just do it.”

Emira steps closer and her shoulders slump slightly when Viney tenses up at the sound. When she’s close enough that the coven witch can see the freckles of the wild one, Emira raises a hand. Brings her glowing fingers that are ringed in small magic circles to the girl's neck. Viney flinches at the unexpected touch on her raw throat. Slight prickles of irritation bursting to the surface under the Emperor witch's touch.

“Emmy?”

“Shh, sky girl,” Emira soothes and a flash of magic makes the blind girl flinch back and draw in a harsh breath. “I’m not going to hurt you anymore.”

The circle around Viney’s throat drops away and the wild one takes in her first big breath in days. Air fills Viney lungs. It's stale and wet, but it swarms Viney's body with relief. Viney grasps the item shoved in her hands with confused hands.

“Emmy?” Viney asks again, befuddled, as soft lips meet the corner of her mouth.

“You’re going to need some wings until Puddles is better. So take Justice,” Emira answers and presses another kiss to Viney’s nose. She smiles when the brunette’s face scrunches up reflexively. “When I see you again,” Emira pauses for a moment and a tear drops onto Viney’s cheek, warm and foreign against Viney's skin. “Let’s go for that flight, okay?”

“Come with me now,” Viney pleads and grips the cowl of Emmy’s uniform. “Come now.”

“I need to get Mittens. She’d be outed the moment I defect,” Em tells her and pulls Viney’s grip off her uniform with reluctant hands. “After- after you can take me on as many loops and barrel rolls as you want.”

“Promise?”

The words are whispered and weak and another tear falls down Emira’s face. The Blight presses a kiss to her sky girl’s lips.

“Promise, love. I promise... Justice,” Emira starts with her clogged voice and the palisman takes his place at the top of Em’s staff. “You keep her safe." Justice nods stiffly before his body stills as he becomes one with his staff. "I'll see you soon, sky girl.”

“I love you, Emmy,” Viney states firmly as she gets on Justice’s staff and black wings unfurl with a burst of magic. 

It's not the right pair of wings, but it's a good substitute. Emira smiles at the sight.

“Sky girl, I'd give you the last breath in my lungs.”

A smile breaks across Viney’s face and a snort of amusement breaks past her lips. The smile is wide and wild and all tooth- Emira’s chest thumps wildly at the sight.

"You're such a drama queen, Emmy."

Viney laughs again, fingers gripping tight to the staff. Em's heart bangs against her ribcage as the beast healer zooms out of the entrance on her palisman with her hair flowing wildly in the wind she creates. The blind witch doesn’t restrain her gleeful shouts as she plows through the Emperor witches ganging up on Barcus and Jerbo outside, the two boys howling in fright as they are swooped off the ground.

Chaos erupts with their departure and Emira pulls her mask over her face. She has work she needs to do and it'll only get harder if coven witches start asking her questions. Em turns around and heads to where the Emperor coven’s carriages waited on the side of the prison. First, find Mittens. Second, return to her sky girl. A small smile crosses the witch's face and her body thrums with the energetic need to run or skip or thank a deity. It's happening. Finally, after almost four years...

Emira Blight is going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? Happy ending!
> 
> Yo, Justice was actually going to break Viney out if Emira want going to do it herself 😆
> 
> TRANSLATIONS:  
> Lo juro- I swear it!  
> Vamanos mi amiga- let's go my friend  
> Callate, por favor- Shut up, please

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to offer suggestions on scenarios or writing prompts! This one was almost entirely based off suggestions! I will credit of course


End file.
